Wireless communications systems such as, for example, mobile communications systems, provide data channels for data transport in an uplink and/or downlink direction over a wireless/air interface. Further, at least one control channel is provided for controlling the data transport.
As an example of a modern communications system, a 3G HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) may provide on a transport layer a HS-DSCH (High Speed Downlink Shared Channel), which is implemented in the physical layer by one or more HS-PDSCHs (High Speed Physical Downlink Shared Channels) representing the data transport channels. One or more HS-SCCHs (High Speed Shared Control Channels) represent the control channels for downlink packet data control from the base station (nodeB) to the user terminal. A HS-DPCCH (Uplink High Speed Dedicated Physical Control Channel) allows the user terminal (User Equipment, UE) the sending of feedback and status indications towards the nodeB.
In HSDPA, multiple users share multiple downlink PDSCH data channels and SCCH control channels. Therefore the UE has to scan a plurality of SCCHs for control information related to the UE. A reliable detection of the proper SCCH is essential for a desired system performance, e.g., high throughput.